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Reflection on the gospel for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Pre-Vatican II calendar). Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Gueranger. This is the second time during the year that holy Church offers this Gospel to our consideration; we cannot be surprised at this, for the fathers selected by her as its interpreters tell us,on bothof these occasions that the afflicted mother who follows …

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Every Christian and non-Christian alike knows that Our Lord carried the cross through Jerusalem, and if you've ever said the Stations of the Cross then you probably know that Simon of Cyrene was coerced into helping Him for part of the way. What you might not know is that the True Cross would one-day be carried through the streets again on the back of the Holy Roman Emperor.

Cat calendars are cute and have their place but how about something that can help you as a Catholic?
Here are four reasons you should get a Catholic calendar for your wall. (Maybe put it up next to the cat calendar.)

Since the early middle ages, the Church in the West has celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows in mid-September, a devotion to the suffering and spiritual martyrdom of the Blessed Mother of Our Lord. The name Our Lady of Sorrows was first used by the Servites, or the Friar Servants of Mary, an order that was founded in 1233.

Many of us are familiar with the standard, five decade rosary, the centuries-old favorite devotion of Roman Catholics throughout the world. An ornate crucifix on a strand of rosary beads is an image that most associate with devout and faithful prayer. But sometimes confusion arises with other terms, such as “chaplet” or “Franciscan rosary.” Aren’t they all the same? Well, not quite. The term rosary is used for various sets of prayers counted on beads, but the prayers may vary from those used in the Dominican Rosary – the most widely known form of the rosary. Additionally, there are some rosaries that use the standard prayers, but serve a specific purpose, like the wedding rosary. Here is some clarification on some of those different rosary terms. Five Decade Rosary The five decade rosary is the one most people picture when they hear the word rosary. It consists of a crucifix, then a short set of 5 beads, for praying the Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, and a Glory Be, and then a rosary center, followed by a loop of 5 decades (sets of ten beads) to count the Hail Marys prayed as one meditates on the mysteries of the rosary, with a bead for praying the Our Father between each decade. This traditional rosary (both the physical strand of beads and the prayer) is also known as the Dominican Rosary, due to St. Dominic’s role in encouraging and spreading devotion to the holy rosary at the request of the Blessed Mother. Franciscan Rosaries The Franciscan Rosary can refer to two different rosaries associated with the Franciscan order. One is the Franciscan Crown, sometimes called a seven decade rosary. As the name suggests, it consists of 7 decades, rather than 5, plus two additional Hail Mary beads, for a total of 72 …

When I first saw the announcement from Ignatius Press about the new Didache Bible. I wasn't that interested. It has "commentaries based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church." Yawn. "More than 100 apologetic explanations that help to answer common questions about the faith." That's a little more interesting.